14 January 2013 Jesus prays and fasts in the desert “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the desert where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” (Lk 4:1) As man, Jesus possessed the fullness of wisdom and grace; perfectly secure against all error, surprise, or illusion. However, he acted only according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, to which he submitted with utmost docility. This same Spirit who, through grace we received, has led and drawn us into our present state in life; and never ceases to guide and encourage us onward to perfection. His obedience to the Holy Spirit was generous and heroic. Wild beasts were his companions. He had no roof above his head. He ate nothing in those days and spent the whole time in contemplation, interrupted only by the tears he shed over our miseries, and the prayers he addressed to his heavenly Father on our behalf. From John the Baptist’s baptism of penance, Jesus moved on to works of penance, and thus prepared himself for his public life and ministry. What does Jesus teach us here? First, that holy baptism (to early Christians, a call to martyrdom) in “The life of a Christian ought to be a perpetual penance” (Council of Trent). Second, that we must prepare for work in the middle of the world by prayer and mortification so that our labors will be meaningful, successful. Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp342-4 Sacramental Confession: A meeting with Christ In this sacrament, Christ makes himself present in the priest. In it He welcomes us as the Good Shepherd: heals our wounds; cleanses and strengthens us. Christ’s promise through the Prophets is also accomplished in it. Christ, above all else, is the center of this sacramental act. We ought to focus on his goodness instead of our wretchedness, because interior life is a dialogue of love wherein God is always the point of reference. We are the prodigal son who returns home when we decide to go to Confession. As he did, we never lose the consciousness of our sins. The desire to make Christ the centre of our Confession is important if we are to avoid routine, to draw out from the depths of our soul matters which will only rise to the surface in the light of God’s love. We go to Christ through this sacrament to ask forgiveness of our sins. We have often asked God for forgiveness; many times He has forgiven us. At the end of each day, recalling what we had done say, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love. According to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” (Ps 51:1-2) Each one of us knows how much he or she is in need of God’s mercy. Thus, we go to Confession: to ask for absolution of our faults as we would beg for undeserved alms. But we go with confidence, trusting, not in our merits; but in his eternal and infinite mercy, and always readiness to forgive. All God asks of us is to admit our faults; to humbly and sincerely acknowledge our debt. The person who takes God’s place and acts on God’s behalf, can forgive us for him. It is not so much that he should understand or encourage us. We go to ask for forgiveness. Thus, accusing ourselves of our sins ‘does not consist simply in recounting them’. Saint Josemaria Escrivá, with a simple and practical criterion, used to advise that our confession should be ‘concise, concrete, clear’ and ‘complete’. The use of too many words often denotes a desire, consciously or not, to flee from direct and full sincerity. To avoid this tendency, we need to make a good examination of conscience. ‘Concise’: just the words to say humbly what we have done or have failed to do. ‘Concrete’: without digression, no generalities; indicating the situation and time elapsed since the last Confession. ‘Clear’: make ourselves understood, stating the precise nature of the fault, modestly manifesting our wretchedness. ‘Complete’: integral, without omitting anything through a false sense of shame so as not to appear bad. Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:45-6 Some consequences of our spiritual childhood Living as good children of God makes us see everything in the light of faith. Even minor incidents of any day accustom us to behaving constantly according to Christ’s will. (cf M Eguibar, “Why do the Gentiles rage?”, Madrid, 1986) We try to see everyone as brothers because we are all children of the same Father; and generates within us an urge to desire their sanctification. Fraternal love will make us wish that people should come ever closer to Christ and should be more fully children of our Father God. We identify with Christ’s concern for the apostolate, his zeal for his Father’s glory and the salvation of all mankind. (B Perquin, “Abba, Father”, London 1965) Spiritual childhood determines our whole supernatural being, shows us how to deal with every situation. A permanent character of our being, it suffuses and permeates all the virtues. (cf F Ocariz, "Awareness of our Divine Filiation", Pamplona, 1985) “We are children of God all day long, even though we do set aside special moments for considering the fact of our divine filiation, the essence of true piety.” (cf “Conversations with Monsignor Escrivá”, 102) I am a child of God. If we frequently consider this truth, going deeper into its meaning, our day will be filled with peace, serenity and joy. We resolve to rely on God our Father, on whom everything depends, when difficulties and disappointments arise, and when sometimes the battle seems to be uphill. (cf J Lucas, “We are Children of God”, Madrid, 1973) We will not lose sight of the truth that our Father is waiting to embrace us, to give us back our dignity as his children, if ever we lose it; and to fill us with good things at a splendid banquet, although our behavior may have been bad countless times. Our prayer will really be a conversation of a son with his father who listens and understands him. “Everything that is on our mind and in our heart; our joys, sorrows, hopes, disappointments, successes, failures; even the most trivial happenings of our day. We will discover that our heavenly Father is interested in everything about us.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 245) Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 3:9-11 • Our Lady of the Word (Speech) Montserrat, Spain, 1514 (http://www.starharbor.com/santiago/m feasts.html); (www.divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (MaryLinks Calendar.htm) • Our Lady of the Word, near Montserrat, in Spain, so-called because it is asserted that she restored speech to a dumb man, in the year 1514. (Bethlehem Observer Historical Calendar) • Our Lady of Speech (the Word). Near Montserrat, Spain. 1514. ["so called because it is asserted she restored dumb man’s speech , 1514. (Balingham on Calendar.)"]. www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm • Our Lady of Speech (near Montserrat, Spain) (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html) • Our Lady of the Word, Montserrat, Spain (1514) (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (http://mariedenazareth.com.)